‘Get Schmidt involved’
Former All Blacks coach Alex Wyllie and ex-test captain Ian Kirkpatrick believe Joe Schmidt should definitely have a hands-on role for the Rugby Championship.
Schmidt is set to replace Grant Fox on the selection panel, but Wyllie and Kirkpatrick think it would make sense to have the former Ireland coach actively involved in the coaching.
Wyllie, who coached the All Blacks from 1988 to 1991, believes replacing Ian Foster as head coach at this stage could be destabilising with the opening Rugby Championship tests looming in South Africa early next month.
‘‘Changing coaches now probably isn’t going to happen at this stage,’’ he said. ‘‘If there’s a new coach, does he want to pick new players? All that’s going to do is create more uncertainty.’’
The series loss to Ireland is under review by NZ Rugby, whose board meets today.
Wyllie thinks Foster – whose wins rate has dropped to 66.67% after losing seven out of 24 tests – will still be in charge, but foresees Schmidt providing valuable input.
Wyllie noted Foster had brought Schmidt in to help with preparations for the first test – won by the All Blacks – when three All Blacks coaches were isolating with Covid-19. He thought that might indicate an intention ‘‘to use him more’’.
Kirkpatrick, who played 39 tests from 1967 to 1977 and captained the All Blacks in 1972-73, agreed a coaching change now could be disruptive, but he would like to see Schmidt’s talents fully utilised.
‘‘Joe Schmidt’s coming in and he’s got to be used more in the role as the director. I think they will want to use his expertise . . . he’s rated highly. He might be able to get something going.’’
Schmidt – once rated the best coach on the planet by former Ireland captain Rory Best – could potentially assist in several areas. He had All Blacks assistant John Plumtree as his forwards coach with Ireland in 2013 and 2014 when the Irish maul and driving game developed in leaps and bounds, and he was also noted for improving Ireland’s defence. Schmidt’s Leinster team was also renowned for expansive backplay when winning PRO-12 and European Champions Cup honours.
While Schmidt is surely set to be more than a selector on the sidelines, Wyllie and Kirkpatrick are aware the players also have a responsibility to step up.
Wyllie, an All Blacks loose forward in 11 tests between 1970 and 1973, was concerned that there
didn’t seem to be ‘‘any real leadership on the field’’. While he said it was easy to make comments from the sideline, he felt skipper Sam Cane ‘‘hasn’t played well for 18 months’’.
Kirkpatrick said he would ‘‘hesitate to criticise because we weren’t all that flash either at times’’, but the All Blacks’ form slump was worrying.
‘‘You think, ‘have we got the best team?’ I would say we prob
ably have. That would be the worry, that our best players aren’t good enough.’’
He felt ‘‘two games was enough to judge’’ that the All Blacks now lagged behind Ireland.
Wyllie noted that Ireland were more adept at spreading the ball, and was disappointed with the All Blacks’ persistent ‘‘one-off running’’ and inability to make breaks.
Too often, he felt the All Blacks
used ‘‘a prop or a lock at first receiver just to hit the ball up and set up another phase’’, whereas Ireland looked to use the ball and spread it ‘‘and put their players into space’’.
Wyllie also felt the All Blacks ‘‘haven’t got the drive going’’, particularly after two-handed lineout takes, and he was disappointed at the number of lineout losses in the third test.
Kirkpatrick – one of the All
Blacks’ greatest flankers – felt Dalton Papali’i could have the potential to develop into a decent blindside and ‘‘fill the role of Jerome Kaino’’, but he said Akira Ioane – a try-scorer in the third test – should be used more.
‘‘If he gets going, he’s unstoppable, but I don’t know how much they use him. He’s got the ability to beat guys, he’s quick and he’s big, what’s the point of having him there if he doesn’t get used more.’’
Losing to Ireland would ‘‘give the All Blacks a real shake-up mentally’’, and going to South Africa for ‘‘two tests on the veld’’ in Mbombela (formerly Nelspruit) and Johannesburg’s Ellis Park would be physically exacting, but, like Wyllie, Kirkpatrick was hoping to see a turnaround.
Meanwhile, Laurie Mains – who succeeded Wyllie as All Blacks coach in 1992 – told the Tova Weekdays radio show that he could sympathise with the pressure Foster was under, but something had to change.
‘‘You just have to have the rugby knowledge and the determination, which is what All Blacks rugby is all about.’’
But Mains reiterated: ‘‘I have a great deal of sympathy for Ian Foster, he’s been a long-term servant to rugby and I’m sure he’s always done his best, and I’m not about to join the crucifixion party.’’